


interlaced

by perfecten



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: BOSS era, Flirting, Fluff, Idk what to tag this as, M/M, Platonic Cuddling, for now, idk where this will go, inspired by The Video of ten & yukhei holding hands, man it's 2 am idk what to Heck goin on, uhhh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-09
Updated: 2018-03-09
Packaged: 2019-03-29 00:45:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13915764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perfecten/pseuds/perfecten
Summary: "Can you stay?" Ten said sleepily. Yukhei's heart strings pulled. It wasn't often Yukhei got to see Ten act small and needy; it was usually the other way around. But with the way Ten was pouting his bottom lip and holding his hands out for Yukhei, how could he say no?





	interlaced

**Author's Note:**

> i rly felt a Strong and Sudden urge to write this at midnight so i am SO SORRY if this is awful i just wanted to get this out of my system

Yukhei sat on the floor of the practice room, exhausted from recording _BOSS_ choreography over and over again until they got the dance perfect enough to post online for fans. He was joined by the rest of his group members, some sitting on the floor in front of them and some sitting in chairs next to him. He usually tried to stay in the back during their V-App recordings so that the shorter boys wouldn't be hidden by his tall frame. Taeyong sat in the very front, stabilizing the camera on the selfie stick he usually used to record the live shows on. Jaehyun sat criss-crossed directly in front of Yukhei, shirt drenched in sweat from dancing with so much rigor, and Ten sat in a chair next to Yukhei, wearing a cute red jacket that made his petite frame look just a little more muscular.

Yukhei always looked up to and admired Ten, not only for his good looks but for his talents and work ethic and kindness. He had felt a connection to him from day one because of their similar backgrounds and Ten had always been nothing but kind to the younger, from buying him food when they went out because he was too young to have his own money, to letting him share his bed when there was a leak in their dorm ceiling and Yukhei couldn't sleep in his own bedroom (Ten ended up sleeping on the couch due to not having enough space in his twin sized mattress for both the giraffe and himself, but Ten didn't mind).

Ten often stayed behind the other members practicing choreography by himself in the practice room until their manager had to physically drag Ten back to the dorm or else he would fall asleep there. Once, Yukhei stayed back with him just to get some help with a part of their dance he just couldn't get down after weeks of practicing; Ten taught him the move and he mastered it in under 15 minutes. He watched Yukhei do the choreography while the group practiced in the corner of his eye, just to be sure he had it down. Ten was always looking out for Yukhei, even if Yukhei didn't know it.

Yukhei scooted closer to his senior, resting his head against Ten's plush but firm left thigh and closed his eyes until he heard Taeyong's squeal of delight when the V-App connection finally worked. He sighed and opened his eyes and looked up at Ten, who was resting his hand on the top of Yukhei's head. He felt both tired and comfortable in the position; tired from dancing and comfort from the warmth of Ten's thigh and palm radiating into his head. Taeyong started to speak to the fans on the stream, but Yukhei wasn't really in the mood to be his usual chatterbox self. He just wanted to sleep.

Ten took his hand off of Yukhei's head and placed both of them in his lap and Yukhei pouted; he wanted Ten's hands to be on him. Not in a sexual way, anyway, as Yukhei thought about that once and felt guilty and never did it again. He did like making physical contact with his members, though. It made him feel comfortable.

He snaked his arm across Tens thigh and wrapped his XXL hand around Ten's, and Ten didn't pull away. He placed his free hand over Yukhei's and rubbed his thumb over the soft skin. Yukhei sighed and slowly interlaced their fingers together, and they held hands like that for a while. Taeyong tilted the camera towards the back of the room because a few fans were asking to see Yukhei, and to make it look playful he started swinging Ten's hand back and forth with his own, and he could see the " _A_ _hh, cute!!_ " comments pour in from the audience. When Taeyong took the camera back to the front, Yukhei looked up at Ten and was greeted with blushed, rosy cheeks and a timid looking Ten.

 _What?_ Yukhei mouthed, teasing Ten; he knew Ten got flustered and shy when it came to skinship, but he knew Ten liked it anyway. Ten shook his head and smiled in response, and focused on the livestream until the manager motioned to wrap it up and the group said their goodnights to the fans.

After it was over Yukhei stood and stretched his slender long arms over his head. It was already 11:45 and they had an early schedule the next morning, something he was  _not_ looking forward to after the day he had. He noticed he was one of the last boys in the room when he reached down to grab his practice bag and head out to the group's van and he felt a hand grab his sleeve. 

"Hey, wait up," Ten said, scrambling to get his belongings together. Ten's cell phone sat on the chair's seat and Superstar SMTOWN lay paused on the screen.

"You're going to gain hand-eye coordination and lose the coordination in your body if you keep playing that game all the time," Yukhei teased as Ten shoved his dance shoes into his bag. Ten giggled.

"It's not my fault you're bad at it," Ten responded, sending a smug smile Yukhei's way. Yukhei rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, come on Mr. #3 in the World, we're going to be late," Yukhei said, walking at a slow pace to get Ten to move faster.

"Ahhhh, I'm coming!" Ten said, bouncing out of the practice room with one shoe on. 

They were the last to get in the van; the other boys sat in the front seat and Yukhei and Ten climbed in next to Jaehyun in the back. Yukhei sat in the window seat and Ten sat sandwiched between the two younger boys. Ten rested his head against Yukhei's shoulder and Yukhei saw Mark glance at the two, but he didn't say anything. Yukhei interlaced their fingers again and they stayed like that until they got to the dorm.

\--

Yukhei got out of the shower and settled himself into the bed, missing Ten's body heat colliding with his own and feeling cold without it. He stayed awake for hours, feeling restless, until he finally got out of bed and walked shirtless into the kitchen to find no one but Ten eating ice cream at the table in his pajamas. Yukhei smiled at how small Ten looked in his too-big flannel pajama pants and his too-big sweatshirt, with his bangs pinned up behind his hairline. He was really cute.

"Can I have some?" Yukhei said, pulling out a seat next to Ten and stealing his spoon. 

"I didn't even say yes," Ten muttered, looking half asleep with chocolate ice cream around his lips. Yukhei giggled.

"You didn't have to," Yukhei said, taking a bite straight from the ice cream carton. He studied Ten's sleepy face for a moment - puffy eyes, plump lips & skin freshly moisturized from his shower. Yukhei absentmindedly put his thumb up to wipe the ice cream off of Ten's bottom lip when his eyes half opened and made contact with Yukhei's. Yukhei smiled and went back to eating the ice cream in silence for a while before the whole carton was empty. 

The boys walked up the stairs back to their bedrooms, Yukhei placing a hand on the small of Ten's back to keep the sleepy boy from falling backwards on the stairs. He walked Ten into his bedroom and laid him in his bed, pulling the blanket up to his neck before saying goodnight and was walking back to the door leading to the hallway when he heard a small voice call his name.

"Hm?" he said, turning around to see Ten's eyes barely open from the light in the hallway.

"Can you stay?" Ten said sleepily. Yukhei's heart strings pulled. It wasn't often Yukhei got to see Ten act small and needy; it was usually the other way around. But with the way Ten was pouting his bottom lip and holding his hands out for Yukhei, how could he say no?

"Won't the other guys think something about it?" he said, closing the door before walking back over to the older boy and gently scooting him aside as he climbed in the bed, already warmed by Ten's body heat.

"They're having a sleepover with Jisung and Chen-Chen," he mumbled from underneath the blanket. They were at the other dorm for the night.

Yukhei chuckled to himself and pulled Ten closer to him once he got underneath the covers, Ten's head resting against his chest and his arm draped around Yukhei's naked torso. Yukhei kissed into Ten's hair and rubbed circles onto his shoulders with his fingers until he heard Ten's light snores fill the otherwise silent air. It was just friendly, platonic cuddling.

At least, that's what Yukhei told himself. 


End file.
